# Cecil's Today's Question (Eskimos in museums) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 16, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-todays-question-eskimos-in-museums/312744 "2005-07-16T01:46:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JennyDiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JennyDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JennyDiver)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-todays-question-eskimos-in-museums/312744/21 "2005-07-18T17:11:51Z")
Hey, there was a novel for young people (junior high to high school age) this spring on this very subject. It’s called _Smiler’s Bones_, and the author is Peter Lerangis. It told the story as Minik’s narration, including flashbacks to his childhood; it was really effective. I’ve got no affiliation–I’m just a longtime SD fan who reviews children’s books, and I was really intrigued to see this subject come up right now. I suspect the presenter at the Nancy Drew conference may well have gotten his/her information from this title. ---
**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-todays-question-eskimos-in-museums/312744/22 "2005-07-20T02:53:45Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > Dunno who edited the column after it was put on the site – the list is Little Ed or someone at the Reader – but I have asked for clarification. I edited the column. Somebody at the Reader axed the slime bit on the stone, as we say in the news business, and on reading the printed result Cecil decided he liked the column better that way. He didn’t have second thoughts about the sentiment, just its expression, which, on reflection, he agreed was laying it on a bit thick. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-todays-question-eskimos-in-museums/312744/23 "2005-07-20T15:18:12Z")
> [@jimmmy](#): > > …saying any display in a Natural History Museum equating them with Wild Animals and Dinosaurs not people - was offensive. Made me a bit more sensitive The Smithsonian also has mannequins wearing the inaugaral ball gowns of some First Ladies. Are they also equated with animals? I could see it in the case of Nancy Reagan–Peter Lawford had some VERY kind-if-you-know-what-I-mean words about the former Nancy Davis and a trip they and Robert Walker took to Vegas–but Barbara Bush? That woman scares me far too much for me to liken her to an animal, at least out loud. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-todays-question-eskimos-in-museums/312744/24 "2005-07-20T15:22:02Z")
> [@Ed Zotti](#): > > Somebody at the Reader axed the slime bit on the stone, as we say in the news business, and on reading the printed result Cecil decided he liked the column better that way. Cecil’s a wuss. A **real** man, like Judith Miller, would’ve gone to jail rather than let the Reader bowdlerize his work like that. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-todays-question-eskimos-in-museums/312744/25 "2005-07-20T15:44:19Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Cecil’s a wuss. A **real** man, like Judith Miller, would’ve gone to jail rather than let the Reader bowdlerize his work like that. Dude! You’re fixing to get yourself some of the Master’s less-generalized insults with that one. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-todays-question-eskimos-in-museums/312744/26 "2005-07-20T15:58:00Z")
> [@Saltire](#): > > Dude! You’re fixing to get yourself some of the Master’s less-generalized insults with that one. Hey, men have _died_ for the chance to be personally insulted by Cecil. Not smart men, mind you. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-todays-question-eskimos-in-museums/312744/27 "2005-07-20T16:06:14Z")
I worked at the Museum of Natural History back in the mid-80s, and we all _knew_ about the dead Eskimos, but they were off-limit for viewing even to staff members. I did “see the elephant,” though: Jumbo’s skeleton was in one of the hallways down in the basement. ---
**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-todays-question-eskimos-in-museums/312744/28 "2005-07-20T18:03:41Z")
Not at all. You’ll recall that Cecil made short work of the editor (not me) who stuck a phrase into a column that turned out to be plagiarized from another site. On occasion, however, he finds that editorial meddling actually improves things, and this was one of those times. ---
**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-todays-question-eskimos-in-museums/312744/29 "2005-07-20T18:06:21Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Cecil’s a wuss. A **real** man, like Judith Miller, would’ve gone to jail rather than let the Reader bowdlerize his work like that. Not at all. You’ll recall that Cecil made short work of the editor (not me) who stuck a phrase into a column that turned out to be plagiarized from another site. On occasion, however, he finds that editorial meddling actually improves things, and this was one of those times. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-todays-question-eskimos-in-museums/312744/30 "2005-07-20T19:23:21Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Hey, men have _died_ for the chance to be personally insulted by Cecil. Or Ed. I, not a smart man, would die to know what he said in that post he deleted and it is only the rememberance that he’s my editor when I write guest staff reports that stops me from an endless and pointless argument on the role of an editor. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mycroft\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_H)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-todays-question-eskimos-in-museums/312744/31 "2005-07-20T19:35:32Z")
In addition to a typically fascinating column, I also liked the compliment given to his “steadfast assistant **Bibliophage**.” Way to go! A compliment from Cecil is even better than an insult. “Steadfast assistant.” _That’s_ the title that should appear under his name. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-todays-question-eskimos-in-museums/312744/32 "2005-07-21T00:02:00Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > The Smithsonian also has mannequins wearing the inaugaral ball gowns of some First Ladies. Are they also equated with animals? I could see it in the case of Nancy Reagan–Peter Lawford had some VERY kind-if-you-know-what-I-mean words about the former Nancy Davis and a trip they and Robert Walker took to Vegas–but Barbara Bush? That woman scares me far too much for me to liken her to an animal, at least out loud. Look I am not ponytailed, fist in the air, claiming that I am speaking for my all my Indian “brothers” across the Western Hemisphere who cannot speak for themselves. I’m just a guy who had a friend that happened to be a full-blooded Indian who pointed sumpin’ out to me and I was surprised and a little sensitized. So, having said that, I THINK that he would say that the 1st Ladies are in the Museum of American History, along with many other mannequins. There are some in Air and Space, & in Arts and Industry – really all over. At the time, the only mannequins in the Museum of Natural History were Eskimos, Amerinds and some South Sea Islanders who, although they looked fierce, most weren’t cannibals we were assured and in fact there was a small exhibit explaining to us that actually very few of these folks were cannibals. I \*\*THINK \*\* he would say it was inappropriate to place them with Animals and as implictly as Primitive folks - that it sent a demeaning message for 1988ish. +1100 posts and this is 1st thread I have ever posted in that Ed or Cecil took a personal interest in - & I’m talking like a hippy. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-todays-question-eskimos-in-museums/312744/33 "2005-07-21T00:12:41Z")
> [@jimmmy](#): > > +1100 posts and this is 1st thread I have ever posted in that Ed or Cecil took a personal interest in - & I’m talking like a hippy. Smile when you say that, Pilgrim! 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cecils-todays-question-eskimos-in-museums/312744.md?page=1)